Internet services suspended in Shahjahanpur after communal violence

Shahjahanpur: Following the violence between two communities in Banda area of Shahjahanpur on Saturday, the district administration suspended internet services in the district on Monday from 6 am to 2 pm. District magistrate Amrit Tripathi told TOI, “Internet services were suspended as a preventive step to maintain peace in the area. Provocative audio and video messages were getting shared on social media sites. The rumour about the death of an injured girl could have disrupted the peaceful environment.”A WhatsApp group adminisrator was also booked along with two group members by police for sharing provocative messages. Earlier, police had booked 300 people for rioting and other offences after the communal clashes. A peace committee meeting was held between people of both the communities under the leadership of the DM and senior superintendent of police S Chinappa, where both the parties were advised to maintain peace and ignore the rumours on social media sites.Cyber cell of Shahjahanpur police was keeping an eye on all the suspecious messages being shared on social media applications related to the violence. The monitoring team identified that several provoking messages were shared on WhatsApp which could ignite the situation, so internet services were suspended in the district. Rapid action force, PAC and local police officials were marching in Banda on Monday. Several shops in the market opened but people mostly preferred to stay at home.

Tripathi told TOI, “It was important to suspend internet services because people were sharing incorrect messages which could have disrupted peace in the area. Earlier we decided to suspend it for the whole day but it was reinstated in the afternoon after we were convinced that people of both communities wanted to move on from this incident. A peace committee meeting was held in Banda where people of both communities agreed to forget their differences and promised to maintain communal harmony."SSP Chinappa said, “The peace committee meeting was successful. Hundreds of people turned up and promised to maintain peace. Now we are identifying the people who ignited the issue and the ones who were involved in the violence. We are yet to arrest anyone for rioting but a few persons have been detained for recording their statement.”